The New York Times business section had a huge article called The Lawyer, The Addict- It is interesting to note that besides Ken B from Deep Cover Program Op Gone Bad there are more lawyers that have had problems with addiction from the Silicon Valley section of town. Ken B is in bad shape right now even though he had a spiritual awakening while in jail. A 1,000,000 dollar bond with no more money because his sponsor wiped out the joint savings account that he shared with his wife. . A high powered Silicon Valley attorney named Peter ended up as a victim to the disease of addiction according to the Times Article. Brian Cuban, Mark's brother just wrote a book called The Addicted Lawyer. I wouldn't mind reading it and after browsing through his website and blog I was quite impressed. He basically stated that he didn't think to highly of the 11th Tradition which basically means personal anonymity should come first over press radio and films. Actually I am not sure exactly what it means. When I first came into the program as a kid we used to have Tradition meetings. Basically the premise was that AA didn't want to see movie stars or public figures tooting their horn about the rooms because then they might end up drunk and that would be a bad reflection on the program as a whole. Attraction Rather then Promotion etc.. I saw this video when I was in PHP rehab and it basically stated that more and more high profile people are coming out of the closet and coming clean about their addiction. This is the best type of promotion one can have because people will actually see that the program can work. People have a tendency to put stars on pedestals therefore their stories should generate more buzz. Since we are in the middle of a horrific addiction epidemic I respect people like Brian Cuban for writing his book. It really sucks to have this elephant on one's shoulders when left untreated. We aren't supposed to pinch hit in the program meaning fox hole prayers don't seem to work when we rest on our laurels. When I was locked up for my DWI I went to some meetings and wanted to stay sober. Infact I wanted to stay sober after rehab and was surprised that I only lasted 10 weeks. I went to meetings and I saw the priest for confession while incarcerated because I really felt like garbage about myself. When I finally got bailed out of Putnam County there was a Bench warrant out of Westchester which was my VOP warrant. I was so full of fear, anger and trepidation going into Valhalla County Jail that I used as soon as I had the chance. The meetings not the program that I experienced went right out of the window. That is because their is a big difference between going to meetings and actually working a program. This is where Smart Recovery meets AA because I had no defense against using due to the myriad of emotional and mental triggers during the transition period. Also being remanded didn't seem to help out my depression as well. If somebody hasn't had cuffs put on them or shackled at least once in their life they should try it just for kicks. I cant put it in words, for most normal people it's a life changing experience especially for an extended period of time. This still didn't help me to get sober. however. It's ok to pinch hit in sobriety as long as the spiritual foundation has already been put in place. Just like a pro baseball player who gets paid to pinch hit. The difference is that he was doing all of the practice and footwork on his down time which is why he is paid to be a professional. We can stay sober on yesterdays sobriety as long as the work was conducted up until that period in time. Smart Recovery, AA, CBT- DBT meetings, prayer and meditation, spiritual advisors, the entire 9 yards. That is how and why I couldn't stay sober when transferred to Valhalla. I had to stop the fight by picking up the white but this didn't happen until almost 5 years later. So what I mean by pinch hitting in sobriety is that we can step up to the plate and face anything that life throws at us and still feel safe because we already turned it over by doing the daily spiritual footwork. Relapses or recurrences usually just don't come out of nowhere. In our world we must surrender to win.
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